Sun shines in from the windows, blinding me and bringing me out of my nightly slumber. I rub my eyes and look around. The first thing I see is the ceiling of the room. Where am I? I don't remember falling asleep last night. Last thing I remember was talking to Kiba. Speaking of him, where is he? He hardly ever leaves my side.
I sit up and my blanket falls to the floor. I'm in the living room on the couch. Oh yeah, that's right. I didn't want to sleep in his bed. I wonder if he's up or still sleeping. I'm sure I'll know soon enough.
I get up and grab the blanket off the floor and start folding it. A familiar song pops in my head as I start to sing it. "I've got my ticket for the long way 'round. Two bottle 'a whiskey for the way and I sure would like some sweet company and I'm leaving tomorrow what do you say." I pause for a moment before continuing.
"When I'm gone, when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me by my hair, you're gonna miss me everywhere oh. You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." I shook my butt as I sung this part.
Now I get into the part where it's a little high pitched. "I've got my ticket for the long way 'round. The one with the prettiest of views. It's got mountains, it's got rivers, it's got sights to give you shivers. But it sure would be prettier with you." After folding the blanket, I placed it on the back of the couch and then just kind of start dancing around.
I take a three second break before going into the chorus again. "When I'm gone, when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me when I'm gone. You're gonna miss by my walk, you're gonna miss me by my talk oh. You're gonna miss me when I'm go- Ahhhh!" I scream when I turn to see Kiba, in a t-shirt and boxers no less, smiling and clapping. My face feels so red and heated.
I shy away from him. "Wow, that was great. I didn't know you could sing and dance." I blush more. Is that even possible? "Um, t-thanks. I, I don't really do that in front of people. Sometimes I do it for Neji. T-The singing part. He, He's never really seen me dance." I answer "Oh, I see." He gives a slight nod of his head. "You didn't hear that." I say pleadingly. Kiba smirks. "I did and it was beautiful, but for your sake I'll pretend that I didn't." A light smile graces his lips. I smile in relief.
After that ordeal, Kiba doesn't try persisting in my singing and dancing. Guess he learned his lesson from the last time. Hmph, serves him right. He's not obligated to know my past, just my present. Maybe, just maybe if we get close enough, I might consider opening up to him a little.
He walks away from me and walks toward the radio across the way. Kiba turns it on and flips to a station I don't listen to often. I don't recognize the song, but it sounds upbeat and fun. I hum along to the beat. I drum my fingers against my hips. Since this isn't true dancing, I don't care if Kiba sees it.
I see Kiba make his way over to me. I smile warmly at him. He smiles back. When Kiba gets close enough to me, he holds out his hand. What does he want? Does he want me to follow him or something? No, no that can't be it. It looks like he's trying to dance with me.
Is that true? "What?" I ask nervously. He laughs at me. "Will you dance with me?" He asks nervously. My stomach fills with tiny little butterflies. Instead of answering out loud, I just nod my head. He takes my hand in his. We start swaying to the music playing in the background. We sway and twirl around. Laughing and smiling.
A few moments later, we stop and lean into one another. I'm starting to get more comfortable with him. At some times more comfortable than I should though. I feel him smiling down on me. I wonder what he's thinking.
Later that day after our little bonding moment, I told Kiba that I would be out for a little bit and that I'd see him later. I decide to visit my love, Neji. I miss spending time with him. I'm glad that we agreed together that we weren't gonna let this project come between our relationship. I honestly haven't seen him since the start of this project. I wonder what he's been up to.
I stand at the entrance of the Hyuga compound. I knock on the door and wait for an answer. When the door opens, Hiashi is on the other side. "Oh, hello Maki." He greets me with a smile. I smile back. "Hi Hiashi sama." I greet back. "I think I know why you're here. He's in the garden meditating." I blush. Neji's uncle has been very accepting of our relationship.
Well, I mean he is now, but in the very beginning he wasn't too optimistic. At first, he believed that we were together to run away and such. When he realized that that's not what we were planning to do, he became more accepting of us as a couple.
I walked inside and made my way to the garden to find Neji. As I came closer to the garden, I saw some loose ends of Neji's hair. My grin widened. I thought of a plan of surprise. Slowly, I walk closer to him. I kneel behind him, my knees never grazing his back. I take my hands and slowly and carefully place them on his eyes. I smirk. "Guess who?" I ask, slightly trying to alter my voice. Neji stays quiet, not moving a muscle. I'm not sure if it's just my imagination or not, but I feel like he's smirking.
Hands grab my face. I release mine from his eyes and grasp his shoulders for support. He slightly turns and kisses me. It takes me a few seconds to react, but I kiss him back. "Hey princess." He grins. "Hey you." I giggle in response. Neji tugs me around and pulls me in his lap.
He nestles me in his arms. I smile warmly at the display of affection. "Well, how's living with Kiba going? Miss being with me yet?" Neji asks, smirking. I snicker and shrug a little. "It's been good so far. I miss lying in bed with you. It feels weird not having you next to me when I wake up when I do stay the night here." I feel him smiling against the back of my neck.
"I'm glad you're here with me." He says softly. "How's having Tenten around?" I ask, curious. I mean what girl isn't curious about another girl being around her man. "It's alright. Different, but okay." Wow, that tells me a lot. I can't say anything though. I didn't really have much an answer when he asked about Kiba. We've gotten closer as friends, but that's about it so far.
Man, now I'm making it sound like I'd rather be with Kiba than him. Ugh, words stop messing with me here. "That's nice." Is my only reply. "What are you doing this weekend?" Neji asks. "Probably not much of nothing. Why?" I ask. "I know we're supposed to be dealing with this project, but do you want to come over on Saturday?" He asks, kissing my cheek. It's not that I don't want to spend time with him, but I kind of want to wait till the near end when there isn't so much stress on the first week.
I love him and I do want to spend time with him, but school is important right now. I'm just gonna have to compromise with him. "Sure, but I can't stay too long. I'll come for lunch and leave near dinner." Neji smiles at my proposal, but it falters when he realizes I'm not staying long.
Well, I do have to stay with Kiba most of the project. I can't keep running off to spend time with my boyfriend. Hell, I don't even know exactly what we're supposed to do in this project. For all we know Iruka could have paired us all together to organize our people skills or something similar.
Neji nods his head and incoherently mutters something under his breath. I start pouting a little. Now I feel like I'm not being a good enough girlfriend. But he can't decide everything. "It's alright, I understand." His arms tighten around me, and he softly kisses me on the cheek and then my lips. We stay like this for a while before heading inside.
Later, I'm lying on Neji's bed with him. I guess Tenten's out because I haven't heard a peep from her since I came in. Ah well. I shouldn't be worrying about that. Neji is MY boyfriend after all. I snuggle closer to him at this thought. It brings a light smile to my face knowing he's mine.
"Maki?" I hear him call my name. "Yeah?" I answer back. "Please stay the night with me love. I miss you so much. It feels wrong not having you here with me like usual. To me you've been gone too long. It's been so lonely, and I've been having trouble sleeping." He pleas. I almost don't know how to respond to this. It's heart wrenching to hear him say something like this.
I guess I could stay one night. Kiba should be fine by himself for a little longer. I hope. I don't want to worry him, but he's a smart guy. Right? "Okay, I'll stay." I giggle and peck him on the cheek. Neji squeezes me and pulls me closer so that once again our lips meet.
Kiba's POV
I lie around on the couch. Maki's been gone a pretty long time. I know that she said she'd be back in a little bit, but damn she's taking forever. I wonder where she's at and if she's coming home. A few minutes later, the front door opens. My ears perk up. I hope that it's Maki.
When a silhouette of spiky hair enters through the door frame, I slump back in my seat realizing it's just my mom. She smiles at me and then it fades. "What's the matter Kiba?" She asks, worry in her voice. "It's been over an hour now..." I grumble. "What do you mean?" She looks at me funny. Oh yeah, she wasn't home when Maki left. "Maki said that she was going out for a while and she's not back yet.." I pout. "Oh Kiba, I'm sure she'll be back soon." She tries to reassure me.
I huff out a sigh and she clicks her tongue. "Look, if she's still not back in the morning we'll go look for her." She smiles. I reluctantly nod. "Fine..." She takes her hand and ruffles my hair and then leaves. Mom doesn't seem to be too worried about her absence, but for some reason I am. I really hope I'm not the reason she's gone. I mean, I don't think I've done anything to upset her again.
Last I checked I was on her good side. Please Maki, don't be mad at me. If I've done anything, please tell me and I'll do anything to fix it and make it up to you. Just please don't be gone from me.
I feel hot tears welling up in my eyes, but I don't let them fall. I just sit there wallowing in my own pain. I hope nothing bad happens to her. Wherever she is. I hate to admit it, but I think I'm starting to like her a lot more than what I'm trying to. Unless something were to happen between her and Neji, my budding love for her is that of forbidden fruit.
It's now past dinner and still no sign of Maki. I'm still waiting around on the couch, stroking Akamaru's head as he lays on the floor beside me. The more I sit here, the more it dawns on me that she's not coming back tonight. Why hasn't she come back yet? She should be back by now. But she's not.
I hear footsteps coming from the staircase behind the couch. There's only one person that could be coming from that direction right now. My sister. A hand grasps my shoulder. "Hey Kiba, everything okay? Where's Maki? Is she still not back yet? I haven't seen her since earlier today." Hana speaks up in a low voice. The tears that I've been fighting away for the last few hours break through and slowly roll down my cheeks like heavy rain drops. I feel Hana come around and sit beside me. She wraps her arm around my shoulders, trying to comfort me in the best way she knows how.
It takes every ounce of will power to calm down as much as possible. I know my whole face is wet, splotchy red, and tear stained. Although, in this moment, I don't give a shit. I feel like an emotional wreck. A roller coaster with all kinds of twists and turns. The track raised up to excite you and the drop that makes you scream whether it makes you yelp for help or jump for joy. Well, the drop that I'm on is making me scream in fear.
When I start to finally calm down, I attempt to explain to my sister what happened. "A little while after we goofed around, Maki said that she would be gone for a while. So ever since then she's been gone. I'm worried that she's mad at me or something bad happened." I explain.
Hana gives me a soft smile. "Alright." She starts off. "Has she been acting funny?" "No." "Has she been talking in a way that makes you think she's bothered by something?" "No." "Have you done anything to piss her off lately?" "No." "Did you do anything out of the way to her today? You know, any surprises or anything that she may not be ready for?" "No." "Then there's your answer. She's not mad at you or anything then." She smiles.
"But that doesn't explain why she's still not back yet." I frowned, still worried. "Well, there's no trouble going on in the village so she must be with someone at the moment." Hana suggests. "But-" Hana cuts me off before I can start. "Yes, you do have a project to complete, but you don't have to be together the entire time. Unless you want to." A smirk crosses her face. "Hana!" I shout, embarrassment coming over me. She starts laughing. "Kiba, I've been through this project myself when I was your age. I should know." She explains.
"So, since you've already done this before, tell me what the hell it's about. It's driving me crazy not knowing what to do." She wags her finger at me. I frown. "You're doing just fine. Just keep doing what you're doing." "That is?" I ask, still confused. Hana snickers. This isn't funny anymore. "Understanding and living life. That's all I can tell you. If I told you then you'd fail the project. You wouldn't want that now, would you?" I shake my head. "No, I don't." I sigh. "Good. Now don't worry, everything will be fine, and it'll be alright. Maki's just fine." Hana softly coos in my ear. I start to get sleepier as I listen to her. I barely feel her pull away as I fall into a restless sleep.